Measuring long-term exposure to wildfire PM2.5 in California: Time-varying inequities in environmental burden

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Casey, Joan A.; Kioumourtzoglou, Marianthi-Anna; Padula, Amy; Gonzalez, David J. X.; Elser, Holly; Aguilera, Rosana; Northrop, Alexander J.; Tartof, Sara Y.; Mayeda, Elizabeth Rose; Braun, Danielle; Dominici, Francesca; Eisen, Ellen A.; Morello-Frosch, Rachel; Benmarhnia, Tarik
• 署名单位: Columbia University; University of Washington; University of Washington Seattle; University of California System; University of California San Francisco; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of Pennsylvania; University of California System; University of California San Diego; Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Columbia University; Kaiser Permanente; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; Harvard University; Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Harvard University; Harvard University Medical Affiliates; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-14947
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2306729121
• 发表日期: 2024-02-20
• 关键词: fine particulate matter; health impacts; air-pollution; fire smoke; CLIMATE-CHANGE; color line; disparities; mortality; associations; JUSTICE

摘要

Wildfires have become more frequent and intense due to climate change and outdoor wildfire fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations differ from relatively smoothly varying total PM2.5. Thus, we introduced a conceptual model for computing long-term wildfire PM2.5 and assessed disproportionate exposures among marginalized communities. We used monitoring data and statistical techniques to characterize annual wildfire PM2.5 exposure based on intermittent and extreme daily wildfire PM2.5 concentrations in California census tracts (2006 to 2020). Metrics included: 1) weeks with wildfire PM2.5 > 5 mu g/m(3); 2) days with non-zero wildfire PM2.5; 3) mean wildfire PM2.5 during peak exposure week; 4) smoke waves ( >= 2 consecutive days with >15 mu g/m3 wildfire PM2.5); and 5) mean annual wildfire PM2.5 concentration. We classified tracts by their racial/ethnic composition and CalEnviroScreen (CES) score, an environmental and social vulnerability composite measure. We examined associations of CES and racial/ethnic composition with the wildfire PM(2.5)metrics using mixed-effects models. Averaged 2006 to 2020, we detected little difference in exposure by CES score or racial/ ethnic composition, except for non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native populations, where a 1-SD increase was associated with higher exposure for 4/5 metrics. CES or racial/ethnic x year interaction term models revealed exposure disparities in some years. Compared to their California-wide representation, the exposed populations of non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native (1.68x, 95% CI: 1.01 to 2.81), white (1.13x, 95% CI: 0.99 to 1.32), and multiracial (1.06x, 95% CI: 0.97 to 1.23) people were over-represented from 2006 to 2020. In conclusion, during our study period in California, we detected disproportionate long-term wildfire PM2.5 exposure for several racial/ethnic groups.